We profiled Ginny Hauser, a devoted volunteer in Pullman, Washington, in 2015. Here’s an update on how MUSIC & MEMORY® is helping to ease transitions of care on the Palouse.

Ginny Hauser shares a personal music playlist with a resident at Avalon Care Center.

In 2013, when recently retired Ginny Hauser began training as a patient support volunteer at Pullman Regional Hospital, her class went to a screening of Alive Inside. That experience inspired her to ask if personal music could become part of her volunteer work with patients. The answer was yes, and MUSIC & MEMORY® on the Palouse was born the following December.

Today, Ginny is the lynchpin of a model program in southeastern Washington State that brings personal music to individuals as they transition through stages of care in the Palouse region. Participating Certified MUSIC & MEMORY® Care Organizations include Pullman Regional Hospital, serving the city of 31,000 and surrounding rural community; Avalon Care Center, a skilled nursing facility; Circles of Caring Adult Day Services; and Friends of Hospice, which supports those at end-of-life or living with chronic health conditions in private homes and adult family homes.

A music lover who plays the flute and sings in a choir for people in hospice, Ginny serves as volunteer coordinator for MUSIC & MEMORY® on the Palouse as well as a volunteer at all of the care settings, bringing personalized playlists to individuals wherever she goes. She derives deep satisfaction from seeing hundreds of people benefit from the power of personal music over the past four years. “Music is so important to me in my life, it touches my heart,” she says. “That I can help someone else by giving them music is so valuable.”

Tailoring Playlists to Individuals and Care Settings

To efficiently cover such a broad range of organizations across a rural region, Ginny works closely with staff at the various care settings. “All of our equipment is in heavy and continued use,” she notes. Each resident who enters Avalon Care Center is offered the option to have personalized music. Ginny creates the playlist that Avalon staff then introduce to the resident. She also creates tailored playlists that staff use daily for every participant at Circles of Caring.

Friends of Hospice has its own music devices and speakers, as well as a staff member who helps to set up the playlists on equipment that Ginny delivers to patients around the county. She has created Comfort Music playlists for patients who are anxious, in pain or near end-of-life, benefiting the individual, as well as family and staff. She also co-facilitates twice-monthly Rural Resources support groups for caregivers at home and helps them to develop playlists for their family members, using equipment from Friends of Hospice.

Inspired by the Power of Music to Bring Joy and Ease Pain

Watching people light up with smiles as they hear their musical favorites keeps Ginny invested in her intense volunteer commitment. She recalls the words of a longtime Avalon resident who has two music devices, one to listen to while the other charges: “Music is really soothing. It calms me down. The songs I like make me happy.”

Or the story told by an Avalon caregiver of a longtime resident: “When you put her headset on and play her music, she lights up, sings and dances in her wheelchair. She is happier, her cognition improves, and she engages with people and her surroundings. The music brings her out of her shell. She loves to hum along and sing the lyrics.”

Ginny notes that, at the request of an occupational therapist, she has created playlists for Avalon’s therapy gym that help patients feel more comfortable doing their exercises. “The tempo and beat of the music can help with gait work,” she adds. At Circles of Caring, which serves people with dementia and other cognitive conditions, staff praise the program for the way favorite music provides respite from agitation and comforts individuals who are having a rough day.

“Many of our patients are able to continue having access to their music as they move within the various care settings on the Palouse,” adds Ginny. Several families were so inspired by the experience that they asked her how to continue the music at home. At her suggestion, family members purchased a digital music device and rechargeable speaker. “I gave them each a list of their loved one’s music and talked them through how to re-create the playlist at home,” she says. In subsequent conversations, “I heard from each that their dear one was continuing to enjoy music and that they were so thankful that they could do something that would have a positive response.”

Building an Integrated Approach to Transitions of Care

For other communities considering such an integrated approach, Ginny has a few suggestions:

Public libraries can be a key setting for Music & Memory community outreach. Depending on available resources, she notes that they might need to limit participation to hospice patients, those with terminal health diagnoses, or other long-term health situations that impact quality of life, before offering services to the general public. Libraries are ideally suited to apply for grants and donations, and to widely publicize the program. They also often have a loyal corps of volunteers.

To provide continuity of care as an individual transitions from one care setting to another and possibly back home, social work staff can play an essential role, communicating with the next placement setting about the person’s need to access personal music. This communication would identify musical favorites and whether the person prefers a headset or speaker. Once personal music is added to the individual’s care plan, the playlist could follow them from one care setting to the next.

Founded in 2010, MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of people with cognitive or physical conditions through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

Carol Ann Jones chats with an audience member after a Power of Music performance.

John was nearing the end of his life, no longer able to speak, when Carol Ann Jones brought her guitar to his bedside at a Vermont nursing home for another visit. She began to strum one of his favorite songs, Me and Bobby McGee. John’s brothers were there, and one joined in with his harmonica. Everyone sang. John’s eyes opened wide.

“There was so much love in that room,” says Carol Ann. “You could see his body relax. You could see the joy in his eyes. He lifted his arms up and was waving to the music. When I got to the end of the song, all of a sudden all these voices joined me. He was waving people into the room—nurses, the chaplain. It was incredible.”

Not long after, John died on Thanksgiving weekend. His wife called to thank Carol Ann for all her musical visits to his bedside. She attended his funeral. The experience inspired her to write his story in a new journal—the first of many stories of the hospice patients she played for at Saint Albans Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. By the time the journal was full, she had written about more than 180 people’s end-of-life journeys.

Raising Awareness and Funds for MUSIC & MEMORY®

An award-winning recreation assistant at Saint Albans who loves to play her guitar and sing for the residents, Carol Ann also helped to launch the 85-bed care community’s Music & Memory program. She creates and updates personalized playlists for people in the memory care unit and runs bake sales and other fundraisers that have enabled Saint Albans to acquire 15 digital music devices. Inspired by a screening of Alive Inside, she volunteers her time for administering the program, in addition to her part-time paid work in recreation therapy.

Now Carol Ann has put her love of playing live music for residents and her experiences with hospice patients toward a new musical endeavor to raise money for Music & Memory and spread awareness of the personalized music program throughout Vermont. Inspired by a friend who loved the stories in her journal, she decided to write a one woman play based on 12 of the most interesting people she had met and sang for.

“The story of John is the first one,” she says. “Then I play a couple of his favorites, Bobby McGee and Red River Valley. Then I go on to the next one, a very different story and music. There’s a wide variety.” At each performance, she includes a display of literature about Music & Memory and Alzheimer’s, as well as a box to collect digital music devices.

After her debut in Saint Albans last July, people encouraged her to take her show on the road. “I’m going to do every county in Vermont,” says Carol Ann, thanks to a $5,000 donation to Music & Memory from an enthusiastic member of the Saint Albans audience. At each stop, she makes a point to connect with the local home hospice agency and collect digital music devices for the nearest MUSIC & MEMORY® Certified Care Organization.

Building Personal Connections Through Beloved Songs

In addition to her Music & Memory road show, Carol Ann performs folksong singalongs at care communities around the state, as well her own show at area coffee houses. She also runs half marathons. A former accountant, she keeps the books for the family dairy farm. Even as the competitive organic milk market forced Carol Ann and her husband to make tough decisions about selling their dairy herd last June, she credits her husband with encouraging her to stick with her music.

What keeps her going—both playing for residents and promoting Music & Memory—is the personal connections she builds through beloved songs. “It’s the joy, the pure, simple joy that you can bring. The awakening that happens,” says Carol Ann. “It turns people around from being so lost and so confused and sad to, ‘Hey, I’m with you!’ It doesn’t matter where we are, we’ve connected and we have this music, this sharing going on. It’s just priceless.”

Founded in 2010, MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of people with cognitive or physical conditions through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

“Frank Sinatra—what movie was he in again?”
“Guys & Dolls!”
“That’s a good one!”

For seniors at Long Island’s Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center, it was a morning full of reminiscing. Old standards, movie-musicals and folk songs inspired animated conversation and even brought back some fond memories. But what made this morning even more special were the facilitators of the MUSIC & MEMORY® program: five young adults from the JCC’s Special Needs Department. Alex, Stephen, Bridget, Jackie and Christie helped reveal the musical tastes and old favorites to build the basis for the seniors’ personalized playlists.

Fostering New Friendships

Located in East Hills, N.Y., Sid Jacobson JCC offers programs for a wide range of participants. The Adult Day Programs are designed to promote social and physical stimulation for all ages and stages of dementia and other conditions. The JCC’s Music & Memory program, sponsored by Goidel Law Group, has seen impressive results.

“We’ve been certified for the past year, and so far we’ve had an amazing response,” Music & Memory Program Coordinator Joe Wasserman, MSW, said. “In fact, one gentleman with expressive aphasia, who struggles to get his words out, was able to sing an entire song. This brought his wife to tears, and she called the JCC to thank us.”

After being awarded an internal grant to expand the creative arts programming in their Adult Day Programs and Special Needs Departments, staff decided to team up to facilitate this special joint initiative. The young adults with special needs acted as “music detectives” to discover the seniors’ musical tastes, which is an important first step in the Music & Memory process. “We knew that they possessed the skills needed to interview the seniors effectively,” Joe said.

Becoming Music Detectives

Before interviewing the Adult Day Program participants, the young adults took part in an interactive training led by Joe along with Taylor Herbert, LCSW, Director of Specialized Senior Services. The training helped them gain an understanding of dementia and communication strategies, as well as the benefits of a customized iPod playlist.

The group learned how personalized music can tap into long-term memories and improve quality of life. To prepare for interviewing the seniors, the young adults role-played with each other to practice effective communication skills, including speaking clearly and slowly, using eye contact and validating responses by repeating and reframing answers. They also learned how to interpret responses to music—reading verbal and non-verbal reactions, such as laughing, looking up or smiling, that indicate a positive response to music.

Interviewing the Seniors

Soon it was time to put the newly acquired information to good use by meeting and interviewing the seniors. After brief introductions, Joe played a variety of songs, from classical to early Rock & Roll, on the piano. The young adults noted the seniors’ verbal and non-verbal cues. They saw firsthand how the right music can breathe “new life” into someone, previously quiet and introverted, who began clapping, singing along or even dancing.

Next, the young adults used Music & Memory questionnaires to gather more detailed information from the seniors. They asked questions such as, “Where did you grow up?” and “Who was your favorite performer or band?” Before long, Alex, Stephen, Bridget, Jackie and Christie had the seniors engaged and bolstered by music and conversation. Some of the seniors who struggled with language came out of their shells and opened up to the young adults. The room was filled with a palpable, undeniable magic.

An Exhilarating Collaboration

Afterward, the group was eager to discuss the songs and stories they had heard. “All I had to do was mention the word ‘musicals’ and a flood of different songs and musicals came out,” Alex said. “It was awesome! These were the most engaged Broadway musical people I’ve ever seen!” Everyone enjoyed watching the seniors’ reactions to live music, as well. “I thought it was interesting,” Christie shared. “People were singing, clapping and bobbing their heads and dancing when the music was playing.”

Working with the seniors was an effective confidence- and skill-building activity for the young adults. “This model encapsulates improved self-esteem and self-determination for those with differing abilities,” Robin Lombardo, Music & Memory’s Northeast Regional Director, said. Bonding over music also creates an intergenerational activity that forges connections between young and old. “It really provides an enjoyable moment of music sharing and story collaboration,” Robin added.

Alex, Stephen, Bridget, Jackie and Christie agree. When asked if they’d want to work with the seniors again sometime, the group gave an enthusiastic, resounding, “Yes!”

“I loved it. It was awesome,” said Jackie. “I loved listening to people and helping them out.”

Sid Jacobson JCC continues to expand their Music & Memory program by offering service for caregivers at home in neighboring communities. Caregivers can contact the Music & Memory Hub at Sid Jacobson JCC to create playlists for their loved ones with the help of skilled employees and volunteers.

Founded in 2010, MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of people with cognitive or physical conditions through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

Hospice care takes many forms—medical care, pain management, support therapies, compassionate attention to emotional and spiritual needs—in a variety of settings, from home to residential hospices, from nursing homes to hospitals. But there is one quality that all hospices share: a commitment to ensuring quality of life for the patient and support for his or her loved ones, as well.

Beloved music can play a significant role in that mix. That’s the experience of Barnabas Health Hospice in West Orange, New Jersey, which has been offering Music & Memory’s personalized music program for the past three-and-a-half years.

One of the first hospices to become a MUSIC & MEMORY® Certified Care Organization, with original grant funding from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, Barnabas Health Hospice now extends its personalized music program to include two satellite offices in the southern part of the state. About 300 people, both in home hospice and in nursing home settings, have been able to enjoy their favorite music, easing their end-of-life journeys.

“He Died with His Headphones On”

Mary Murray, a registered nurse and former clinical educator for Barnabas Health Hospice, was instrumental in setting up and running the program until this past December. She recalls one of the first patients to experience Music & Memory, a man living in a nursing home whose dementia was beginning to limit his ability to communicate.

“He had a very loving wife who visited daily, but he was quite withdrawn,” recalls Murray. “His wife felt he wasn’t able to feel any happiness. We introduced the program to her and asked what kind of music he liked. It turns out he loved Italian opera, but she hated it and had thrown out all of his CDs. So I went back to iTunes and did some research, found Italian opera’s top hits. We loaded them onto an iPod and put the headphones on him.”

The reaction wasn’t what she expected. “Tears started running down his face,” says Murray. “We thought we’d done something terrible! But his wife said, no, that was always his reaction. He was really moved. Listening to the music became something they could do together. She felt that she was able to give him some joy. He died with his headphones on.”

Tapping Happy Memories that Balance Loss

That experience is but one of many stories gathered over the years by Barnabas Health Hospice staff. The positive benefits for patients have been matched by the boost that Music & Memory has given to families, as well.

“One thing we really didn’t expect was the effect it had on families,” says Murray. “We asked them to tell us what music is important to your mom, what did she listen to when cooking dinner, or what was your parents’ wedding song or favorite church music. It brought the family back to a time when their loved one’s life wasn’t all about hospice and dying—really happy family memories.”

Pioneering the program in a hospice setting brought challenges, especially since Barnabas Health Hospice serves patients both at home and in nursing homes. A volunteer coordinator was hired to manage the program, with hospice volunteers creating playlists and delivering the iPods to patients.

A Key Role for Hospice Volunteers

“We have about 150 iPods out at the moment,” says Volunteer Coordinator Leigh Conforti, who manages more than 140 volunteers. Requests for the iPods can come from a variety of sources—social workers, nurse managers or the volunteers themselves. Typically, the volunteers do the detective work of learning about the individual’s favorite music and create the playlists. They also deliver the equipment—an iPod, headphones, playlist and instructions—in a special bag sewn by another volunteer, and help the patient and family learn how to use the music.

Not only is the program enthusiastically embraced by Barnabas Health Hospice volunteers; Conforti says it also is “the perfect way for volunteers to get in patient hours.” Medicare requires that five percent of hospice volunteer time be dedicated to working directly with patients.

Murray says that Barnabas Health Hospice made a conscious decision to expand the program to all hospice patients, not just those diagnosed with dementia. They provide a stamped return envelope with the iPod, so that it can be re-used when no longer needed. In addition, upon a patient’s death, the Volunteer Coordinator will make a condolence call and sensitively worded request to return the equipment so that it can be refreshed for another patient.

Relieving Pain in the Broadest Sense

“We made the program open to any patients, regardless of where they live,” says Murray. “We left the equipment at bedside. We lost a few iPods along the way, but not many. It was more important to make the iPod accessible and likely to be used.”

In 2016, Barnabas Health Hospice became part of a joint venture, through a partnership with the VNA Health Group, Inc. and RWJ Barnabas Health, that employs music therapists for the benefit of patients. Murray notes that the Music & Memory personalized music program provides another way for the joint venture to share the pleasures of music with more hospice patients and families.

“Personalized music has relieved people’s pain, helped them to feel better and more comfortable,” she says. “In the hospice realm, when we think of pain, we think of it in broad terms. A person may have physical pain from a wound, or pain from cardiac angina, but there’s always more. There’s spiritual pain—questions like why is God doing this to me—or the personal pain of feeling you’ve lost everything. There is much sadness in this work. Music & Memory is a service that is uplifting and happy and joyful for everyone involved.”

Founded in 2010, MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of people with cognitive or physical conditions through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

High school volunteers Priscilla Anthony (L) and Jenna Wendt (R) with Kelly Anthony, Music & Memory Project Manager at Heartland Country Village

For 15-year-old Jenna Wendt, helping residents at Heartland Country Village to hear their favorite music has completely changed her view of elders.

“When I was younger, I don’t know why, but I always thought they were sad or mean,” says the Wisconsin Heights high school freshman, who hopes to become a nurse. “Now when I walk in the door, some people ask me how my day is going or if it’s nice outside. They’re really friendly. I smile and they smile back. They always like me to ask how they feel about a song.”

Jenna is one of a growing number of high school volunteers who are helping out in MUSIC & MEMORY® Certified Care Organizations in Wisconsin, part of a focused effort to bridge generations, benefiting young and old alike.

She found out about the volunteer opportunity when Julie Hyland, Director of Wisconsin’s Music & Memory Student Program, spoke about the powerful impact of personalized music at her high school. Jenna saw this as a chance to get some experience for her career path, and Julie matched her up with Heartland Country Village.

Julie is currently working with more than three dozen nursing homes that are new to Music & Memory, matching them with high school and college volunteers. In 2013, Wisconsin launched the first statewide nursing home initiative to implement the personalized music program. More than 300 Wisconsin nursing homes have completed certification. The Wisconsin student initiative is a pilot program that Music & Memory hopes to replicate in other partner states, nationwide.

“Their Help Is Such a Win-Win for Us”

Working with three residents at Heartland Country Village, Jenna keeps them company as they listen to favorite music on iPods and headphones, and questions if they recognize the selections. This feedback helps Kelly Anthony, Activities Assistant, to refine the playlists. Kelly is Music & Memory Project Manager at the 50-bed facility in Black Earth, about a half hour from Madison.

“I think Jenna was a little leery at first with some of the residents,” says Kelly. “But after she started working with them and saw their personalities emerge, she discovered they’re just very kind people. She really enjoys being with them and singing with them.”

Kelly’s 16-year-old daughter, Priscilla, also volunteers with the Music & Memory program at Heartland Country Village. Since she works in dietary services and sees the residents at meal time, Priscilla notices what kind of ambient background music gets a reaction. “If I see them dancing, I let my Mom know,” she says.

“Sometimes they’ll start singing a song they like,” Priscilla adds. “One of the residents was singing a song to me that sounded weird. I went home and looked it up on YouTube. It was Temptation, an older song by Perry Como. So I told my mom and she put it on his iPod.” Says Kelly of her daughter, “She’ll pick up on someone humming and tell me it needs to be on their playlist.”

The two teens have caught the attention of Administrator Cheri McCormick. “Jenna and Priscilla are great volunteers, very unusual,” she says. “Their help is such a win-win for us.”

“High School and College Students Are a Great Asset to Any Facility”

Those sentiments are echoed by Vanessa Wade-Jarrett, Recreational Therapies Director at The Villa at Bradley Estates in Milwaukee. Her efforts to launch Music & Memory at the 185 bed facility over the past few months have also benefited from a high school volunteer, Sahuninee Matthews (“Ninee,” for short).

“Ninee was a great help interviewing residents to find out their music interests,” says Vanessa. “She filled out the intake forms, pulled out the CDs we already have in-house, cleaned them and prepared them to be burned to our iTunes library.”

Not one to sit around, Ninee was always looking for a way to help out. “She came excited every time, very organized,” says Vanessa. “She wanted to be on the floors, doing interviews. The residents enjoyed her company. She’s a very upbeat person.”

Now Vanessa looks forward to some summer volunteer help from two students from Cardinal Stritch University—who also happen to be her nieces. “I really believe that high school and college students, especially being familiar with the technology, are a great asset to any facility,” she says.

“The Residents Light Up When the Girls Arrive”

“Being more knowledgeable than we are, it’s more comfortable for them to sort and arrange our playlists,” Vanessa adds. “We always have someone in-house, but having someone volunteer to assist so we can do other recreation therapy activities is a great help.” The Villa currently has eight residents in the program, with a start-up goal of 10.

Kelly Anthony agrees that the teen volunteers make a big difference in successfully launching a Music & Memory program—not only by doing the all-important music detective work with residents, but also by simply brightening the lives of her residents.

“The residents don’t always understand that they’re coming, but when the girls walk in the door, they’re all smiles,” says Kelly. “It’s fun to see their faces light up when the girls arrive, and they recognize ‘this goes with my music.’”

Founded in 2010, MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of people with cognitive or physical challenges through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

It was a stunning awakening. For eight months, the woman had stopped participating in art therapy. She used to enjoy painting with watercolors, alongside other women in her group at Terracina Grand, an Alzheimer’s community in Naples, Fla. But as her dementia worsened, she had become more and more agitated, sometimes swinging and hitting her caregivers.

Not willing to give up, Angel Duncan, an experienced art therapist, as well as Director of Education and a clinician at the Neuropsychiatric Research Center of Southwest Florida, decided to try a different tack.

Maybe, she thought, the right music could help the woman to express herself with paint once again. Art therapy is widely used to help individuals with Alzheimer’s, other forms of dementia and a host of physical, emotional and mental challenges to tap inner creativity as a means to express feelings and reduce stress, among other benefits.

Although Duncan has often brought age-appropriate background music into art therapy sessions for an added spark of inspiration, this time she placed a set of headphones on the woman, so she could hear her personal musical favorites.

“She sat with her headphones on, dancing in her seat, smiling,” says Duncan. “When I asked what color the music was, she said, ‘Well, the beginning of it is red.’ She grabbed the brush and painted a little red tree.”

Enhanced Focus and Self-Expression

To Duncan’s amazement, the woman remained immersed in her painting for the entire hour. Afterwards, they processed what the painting meant. While her speech was fragmented, she was able to communicate that the image was a plant, like the ones she used to have all over her home.

And this was not the only one in the group to benefit from a personalized playlist. Duncan says another woman who always falls asleep and appears indifferent was suddenly wide awake, fully engaged with everyone else, painting bright splashes of color: “She said the purple streak was her favorite. It made her happy.” The key, once again, was musical favorites on an iPod, thanks to Terracina Grand’s Music & Memory program.

“I’ve been doing music and art for years with this population,” says Duncan, who travels nationwide, teaching creative applications of art therapy to fellow professionals. “But their own, personalized playlist pulls the colors from inside like no other.”

Greatest Benefits for Those with Advanced Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias

One of the biggest challenges in art therapy is getting people to open up and trust that they can paint or draw. While there are different approaches—some art therapists prefer to create a quiet, “sacred space” where participants can focus and allow their thoughts and feelings to flow to the surface without any distractions—Duncan has always combined music with art.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to rely on music to get people to open up and be creative,” she says. “People will say, ‘I can’t paint, I’m not an artist.’ Maybe we’d have Elvis playing. I’d ask, ‘What color is the music?’ They’d say it was a happy color and paint a red ball, or this part is slower and paint blue lines. I realized this was it. With music, you can tap into something deeper.”

Duncan acknowledges that art therapy can enable people to express themselves without any music—and for some individuals, music can actually be triggering and stressful. But for persons with advanced Alzheimer’s and other late stage dementias, she says, “the personalized music and headphones are essential.”

“Music Lights Up the Entire Brain”

She adds, “I’ve had some amazing art therapy sessions combined with the Music & Memory program.” When Duncan asked one participant what memories were tied to her favorite music as she painted, the woman removed her headphones and said it reminded her of her high school.

“She started painting a tree with a tire swing and herself and told me a whole story about her high school days,” says Duncan. Another woman, listening to the song that she danced to at her wedding, drew a picture of herself in a tutu with her husband.

An added advantage: The paintings inspired by memories tapped by musical favorites become a way for family to see into their loved one’s world—especially when words are no longer easily accessed.

“The painting becomes a snapshot of what they’re remembering in the moment,” explains Duncan. “Music lights up the entire brain. It gets the dopamine flowing and gives them the energy to be creative. They’re no longer sitting there with a blank piece of paper, wondering what to do—or completely blocked.”

Founded in 2010, MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of people with cognitive or physical challenges through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

Music Therapist John Abel shares a resident’s favorite music and memories at A.G. Rhodes Health & Rehab in Atlanta.

Roberta* was silent. Locked in her dementia, seemingly unaware of her surroundings, she would sit and stare at the walls of her nursing home room for hours on end.

When Music Therapist John Abel first met Roberta, shortly after he joined the staff of A.G. Rhodes Health & Rehab in Atlanta two years ago, he thought music could make the difference. And he was right. When she listened to John play the guitar and lead a group in song, after about 45 minutes, she began to respond with a word or even a phrase.

But after a while, she became less and less responsive. “The music therapy group stopped having an impact,” says John. Meanwhile, after an A.G. Rhodes board member saw Alive Inside at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, she came back determined to bring MUSIC & MEMORY® to the company’s three Atlanta facilities. John thought Roberta would be a good candidate for the personalized music program.

“Now, with Music & Memory, I’ll put the headphones on her and within two hours she’s back at the level she had originally been in music therapy,” says John. A major benefit of the program, he believes, is the fact that she can listen to her music without any distractions. The best part, however, is giving her access to her favorite songs. An octogenarian, Roberta still loves The Grateful Dead.

“We found that out from her sister,” says John. “It totally surprised me.” He asked Karen Lupton, a professional musician who works part-time on the program for John, to set up the playlist. “I asked Roberta if she wanted other music, too,” says Karen, recalling a conversation with Roberta in her room after she’d been listening to her iPod. “She was the most verbal I’d ever heard, speaking in complete sentences. She said, ‘I would like that very much.’”

Later that day, Roberta’s physician stopped Karen in the hall. “Did I overhear Roberta and you speaking?” she asked Karen. “I was under the impression that she was completely non-verbal.”

Personalized Music Complements Music Therapy Groups

“I see Music & Memory as a nice marriage with music therapy groups,” says John. “I’m stretched so thin across our three facilities, it enables me to help individual residents without being there physically. And I know the residents are hearing music that really benefits them, not whatever is pumped through speakers to the dining room.”

“The personalization factor is so important,” adds Karen, who originally came to A.G. Rhodes as a volunteer a year ago in April after hearing about an iPod drive, and soon was hired to help implement Music & Memory as the program grew.

“Sometimes people who love music don’t want to be in groups or just don’t want to leave their rooms,” she adds. “We have one resident who doesn’t like to join groups but loves old show tunes. The activities staff told me he liked to sing Old Man River, so I made up a playlist of Broadway music. He knew so many of the songs and would sing all the words.”

Another resident who trained as a classical pianist would attend the music therapy groups occasionally, but missed hearing Bach and Chopin. “She wanted very specific pieces of music, rather than just hearing them playing in her head,” says John. “When she got her iPod, she said, ‘I never thought I’d hear this music again. I can’t play it anymore.’”

Then there was the resident who loved opera. “I asked her if she had a favorite performer,” says Karen. “All she could come up with was ‘butterfly, butterfly.’ I assumed she meant Madama Butterfly, so I created a playlist with Puccini’s greatest arias. When she first listened, she said these were her favorites. I came back later to see how she was doing. She said, ’I feel more like myself than I have in years.’”

Karen says the opera lover’s son is a big proponent of the program and gives his mother her playlist to help her manage dementia and hallucinations. “As her confusion gets worse, he pushes the music to help ground her,” says Karen.

Hearing Favorite Music Eases Confusion and Agitation

John adds that staff have found the personalized music to be a great assist with other residents who are confused and agitated. “We were having trouble giving one woman a shower,” he says. “She would become very physically and verbally aggressive. So we started playing her music—gospel, R&B—when she was in the shower, using an external speaker. It gave her something else to focus on, something calming, even though the shower is stressful for her.”

After a year implementing Music & Memory, A.G. Rhodes has about 80 residents participating across all three facilities, which range from 130 to 150 beds at each location. John and Karen agree that the program is an essential tool and hope to expand access to even more residents.

“People love John’s music therapy groups,” says Karen. “He often repeats the same songs as a form of analysis, to see who remembers. And people love the personalization of the iPods. They can immerse themselves in their own playlists. We don’t generally sing Broadway shows or Michael Jackson in groups. Music & Memory and music therapy groups are complementary.”

*Name changed to protect privacy.

Founded in 2010, MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of people with cognitive or physical challenges through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

What’s your favorite music? Seems like a simple enough question. Discovering the songs and other music most loved by someone in your care is at the heart of the MUSIC & MEMORY® personalized music program.

But the answers aren’t always obvious and, sometimes, they’re downright hard to get, especially when the person you’re asking has Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia—or if she’s from a foreign country that’s unfamiliar to you, or if he simply has trouble explaining what he’s remembering (“it was a song about black, wavy hair”).

The best approach, says Letitia Rogers, Music & Memory’s Regional Coordinator in Southern California, is to become a “music detective.” Letitia spent nearly 20 years working on Hollywood movies, as an assistant to composers, music agents and music editors, helping to pick music for film soundtracks. “There were projects like searching for Polynesian/Hawaiian/tropical-island-sounding music for Lilo & Stitch, to finding 1930‘s Chicago blues for Public Enemy,” she recalls.

Here are Letitia’s tips for becoming a music detective for those in your care:

The Basics

Start with the fundamentals:

Did you listen to music when you were young?

What’s your favorite song?

Did anyone in your family play music? Did you?

What song did you dance to at your wedding?

Do you have any favorite music from attending a place of worship?

It’s always worth it to ask basic questions like these, because they may open the door to a longer, deeper conversation. But don’t be discouraged if you don’t get very far, since these questions are quite direct. Sometimes the individual won’t know the answer right away, or sometimes she won’t be able to recall because of her particular cognitive challenges.

That’s when you need to hone your music detective skills and look for clues.

Age-Related Clues

With a few basic facts, including age and where the person lived at an earlier point in time, you can find a side door to the person’s musical favorites. Letitia cites this example:

“A dementia patient I worked with at first said she didn’t know what kind of music she liked. Then I asked, ‘I was told you moved to Hollywood in the early ’40s. Did you ever go out when you were there?’ She shared that she remembered taking dance lessons with her brother.

‘Did you ever go out to dance?’

‘Oh, yes, we went to the Paladium, many times.’

“So we loaded her iPod with early Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey—then some Lawrence Welk, to tap her Midwest roots. Now she had something to bring her comfort in a place that she often forgot was her home.”

Bits and Pieces

Sometimes all you’ll get from your initial questions is a phrase and a general guess of the type of music: “It was something about wavy black hair or waving black hair. It was an old country singer from when I was young.” If the individual is in his 90s, you can make an educated guess that he might be thinking of music from the ’40s.

One approach is to do an Internet search, using those clues as key words. Try them in varying combinations. A search for “waving black hair country music” pulls up several listings for Wildwood Flower, including a listing on Country Music Treasures with the lyrics and a quote by Mother Maybelle Carter of the original Carter Family, who recorded the song: “It’s the most popular song we ever recorded, and there’s hardly a country group who doesn’t use this song.” Given that the Carter Family recorded in the ’30s and ’40s, chances are you’re on the right track.

What If They Can’t Communicate?

Educated guesswork is key to success. If the person in your care can’t communicate or struggles with memory, your best bet is to find out as much as you can from other sources about the individual’s background. In addition to age, find out where the person was born, where he lived over the course of his life, and his first language.

You may be able to find out about favorite hobbies, sports and other pass-times that could suggest a starting point. What radio station do family members recall him listening to? What TV shows? Was he musical? Did he play an instrument or sing in a choir? All of this information can help you solve the musical favorites mystery.

Overcoming Language Barriers

If the individual speaks a different language, start with family members and friends who may be able to interpret. Staff members may be of help with translating, as well. If you meet some resistance and skepticism about your knowledge of another culture’s music, don’t let that dissuade you. Do your homework. Search the Internet for “top [name of country] singer of all time” and see what turns up.

Armed with the name of a famous Arab singing artist, Letitia was able to convince the son of an Iraqi dementia patient that she was serious about finding music for his mother. Then, working through a staff interpreter, with the son’s help, she asked the mother if she preferred music with instruments, or with words and singing. “Singing,” she said.

“Of course,” recalls Letitia. “She was in a place where no one is speaking her language, so in addition to the isolation of dementia and moving into a facility away from her community, she was also losing the sound of her life and her culture.” Soon after Letitia created the playlist, the woman was singing and clapping along with the music.

Ultimately, says Letitia, being a successful music detective requires some “intuition and luck.” But, she adds, that’s okay. “We’re on a search and journey together. You’re going to learn about the world on the way to learning about the person in your care. This is a journey to share.”

Founded in 2010, MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

It’s official. Music & Memory is growing like crazy! Thanks to so many of you who support our efforts and understand the profound benefits of personalized music for individuals with cognitive and physical challenges, we have surpassed the 1,000 mark for MUSIC & MEMORY® Certified Facilities.

Our member organizations include nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospitals, hospices and adult day health centers, as we continue to expand. In celebration, here are some of the wonderful things that people have to say about how Music & Memory benefits their residents and clients:

“Music & Memory is awesome! We are up to seven patients. I was trying to stay at five for January, but the staff is begging me to add patients to the program. One of my greatest moments yet is when one of our residents, who hasn’t said a coherent thing to me in months, looked straight at me and said “thank you” twice with a huge grin on her face.”
Reverend Charles Thornburg, Chaplain
Director of Spirituality, Signature HealthCare of Clarksville

“There has been a lot of activity around Music & Memory in our region in North Carolina. As you know, we started a county-wide initiative in 2013 involving all of our long-term care facilities, assisted living and PACE who all serve seniors with memory impairments. We have heard wonderful stories of how people who were once agitated are now more happy-go-lucky and peaceful. Yesterday I witnessed in our own community a women tapping her feet and smiling with the iPod, overjoyed when we told her again that the iPod was hers to keep! Wonderful!”
Amy Gorely, MPA
Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach
Carolina Meadows, Chapel Hill, N.C.

“I just used the iPod last week to help a patient stop smoking. We made a deal that I would hook him up with a meaningful activity (iPod music) so that he wouldn’t get bored and head out to the smoke shack. He could use it as long as he remained smoke free and a patient here. He is now 10 days smoke free and credits it to the music.”
Cheryl Fabello BSN, Charge Nurse
Boise VA Medical Center, Idaho

“Music & Memory has done wonders in our facility. I have been in this business for over 30 years. This is giving people a spark. You have to change with the times and this approach is part of it. Sometimes it’s the little things. We have one resident who has advanced dementia and was asleep. He used to be in a barbershop quartet, but hasn’t responded to music in a long time. We put the headphones on him and he started tapping his foot. To us, this is huge.”
Deb Jacoby, Life Enrichment Director
Rocky Knoll Health Care Center
Plymouth, Wisconsin

Thank you, everyone, for your enthusiasm and commitment. Without you, we would never have come this far. Your continuing support and involvement is helping to bring us closer to achieving personalized music as a standard of care.

Founded in 2010, MUSIC & MEMORY® is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life.

Bent over her wheelchair, eyes closed, Ella would all-too-easily melt into the background of the dining hall at the Orzac Center for Extended Care and Rehabilitation. Legally blind, with dementia, she sat quietly, a solitary figure who rarely, if ever, spoke.

All that began to change in 2012 when Music & Memory came to the Orzac, a 120-bed facility on the grounds of Franklin Hospital in Valley Stream, N.Y., part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System.

“Ella loved gospel, reggae and music from the ‘50s and ‘60s,” recalls Chris Corallo, a music therapist who introduced the personalized music program to Orzac residents. “She’d sing along, waving her head back and forth, just like Henry in the video.”

A Gradual Reawakening Through Gospel Music

Ella’s awakening didn’t happen immediately. The first time Chris tried to play gospel music for her on an iPod, it took 50 minutes for Ella to respond at all. Gradually, however, as she recognized the songs, she began to sit more upright in her wheelchair. Soon she began to sway her head from side to side and sing to songs she knew.

“When I removed her iPod after about an hour-and-a-half, she thanked me for giving her the music,” Chris says. “I asked her a few questions, such as, ‘What did the music remind you of?’”

“I remember my mom and dad, when we went to church when I was little,” said Ella.

“Did you like the music?”

“Yes! When I listen to music, it makes me dance in my head,” she answered. “It makes me see.” As she spoke, Ella’s eyes opened wide and she smiled broadly.

Encouraged, Chris continued to bring the iPod to Ella at least three times a week. With repetition, her reaction time lessened: after about three weeks, 40 minutes; after 5 weeks, 20 minutes; by six weeks, it took Ella only 10 minutes to respond, singing and swaying to her favorites.

Chris, who loves “playing guitar, hopping and singing” with residents, brought Ella into her music therapy groups, where the octogenarian became an active participant. She would sing along to all the music, shake her hand-held rhythm instrument, and even talk to other residents–something she had never done before.

Repeated Exposure to Music Reduces Response Time

Ella’s experience, though remarkable, is not unique. Chris says the iPods have helped other residents with dementia to become more engaged, as well, with time and repeated exposure to their musical favorites. “One by one, I’d sit with them, watch their reactions as they listened, write notes,” she says.

It would take, on average, three sessions a week for two to three weeks, 40 to 50 minutes each session, for the residents to realize there was music in the headphones. But, like Ella, gradually they would respond more readily. Chris integrated these thrice-weekly, two-hour sessions with live music groups.

“By the time we got to the live music, they all participated voluntarily,” she adds. “They became more cognitively aware, more social, more cohesive with their aides.”

Short Term Patients Benefit from Music, Too

Chris has also introduced iPods to short term patients, using generic playlists of different popular genres, such as Big Band music or hits from the ‘50s and ’60s. “I’ll play a tune on my guitar to see what they like,” she says. Short-term patients sign an agreement to replace the iPod if it is lost and are typically able to use the devices on their own with some basic instruction.

“Their reactions are always positive,” she says. “Many say the iPods help them sleep, they are more relaxed, and, in turn, more willing to participate in recreation activities. The iPod therapy, as part of our recreational and music therapy at the Orzac, is integral to the healing process for short term patients.”

Ella died on January 17, 2014. Chris has no doubt that listening to favorite gospel music made her final years at the Orzac more humane, meaningful and fulfilling. “I’ll miss her,” says Chris. “I could make her laugh.